


What was going to happen on BBC Merlin: Redux

by I_Met_A_Girl



Series: BBC Merlin: Redux [3]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Gen, M/M, i'm just here to give people closure, not exactly a fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:28:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29834649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Met_A_Girl/pseuds/I_Met_A_Girl
Summary: So the "indefinite hiatus" on that series is more likely than not just abadoning the fic, but as a fic reader myself who has been left wondering forever about unfinished fics, I figure maybe I ought to give everyone who was kind enough to read my entries closure. The least I can do is say what all my plans were.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: BBC Merlin: Redux [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1600873
Comments: 12
Kudos: 21





	1. the rest of ep 2

Alright. I'll start with things that were going to happen in episode 2 and then move on to further overarching stuff.

Episode 2 was going to have:

\- Merlin confronting Gwen and begging her to be friends and trying to give her all her favorite stuff, which she refuses, and my notes say that from Gwen's perspective, it is just this scene in Spirited Away

'Nough said. 

\- Uther brings Gaius up to Arthur's room and is like, "Examine him! He's enchanted, clearly." Hilarity ensues as Gaius gives Arthur an awkward check-up and is stuck between two insufferable, stubborn Pendragons having a passive-aggressive argument about this and Gaius isn't even sure if he should just go along with it and pretend that there IS an enchantment just to appease Uther. Arthur comes up with saying he's only pretending to be Merlin's friend so as to not provoke the clearly insane master spellcaster and to get information out of him. Uther is _thoroughly_ unsatisfied with such methods as it's best to just show a zero tolerance policy and kill Merlin, but he does want to know what Arthur has found out. Arthur actually has an answer here, and it is a secret surprise Mousecatool that will come back several times: he says Uther should look into Merlin having a connection to the DuBois house and his mother. His reasoning? Merlin carries around a sigil that looks like it belongs to them, though Arthur can't be sure, because it's been worn down to the point where the symbol in the middle is almost completely unrecognizable. Either way, he says, trying to throw his dad off, Merlin is definitely lying about his parentage being some quiet little farming town, and Gaius should not at all be in trouble, because it's far more likely that the nephew he was expecting was killed or kidnapped or smth so year everything's good, dad, you don't have to put either of us through anything.

-A defeated Merlin shows up to a defeated Gaius' space wearing _modern day scrubs_ and super ready to help his uncle whohoo! Gaius immediately tells him to LEAVE, and Merlin is just like, "But Gaiussssss I have soooooo many medical degrees. I have gone back to medical school every few decades for hUnDrEdS oF yEaRs. I'm a Master Surgeon. I have TAUGHT at ULC. These leaches should not be used for fevers," and Gaius is like, "MERLIN YOU ARE SCARING THE PATIENTS!" because really he is 

(I tried writing all of these more than a few times, and every time, I just thought, "...It's not as funny as it was in my head." I just couldn't get it right, you know? Just couldn't. Get it. Right.)

-Arthur notices a weird symbol keeps popping up and assumes Merlin is doing weirdo sorcerer stuff and he'll ask later why it must involve graffiti 

-Morgana does catch Merlin finally. This scene isn't a funny one. Merlin has a monologue like, "You've been asking everyone about me, right? Then you know I'm a time traveller. Morgana, you were a great friend once, but the way things went down? I just... I can't look at you. I don't think we can be friends again." And Morgana is sad and at a loss and is about to leave but then Merlin goes, "Wait. You've been suspicious about something, for, for your whole life, I think. You try to bring it up to people, and they dismiss you. You think it's because they think you're just crazy, but really it's because they want to protect you from the truth. Your suspicions are right, and your powers, they'll get stronger. Soon. You won't have much control over it in the beginning. When that happens, come and get me. If you want them, I can teach you how to control them, and you if you don't... we can find something that can get rid of them. You can go now."   
So that's fun.

-Merlin comes to Arthur in the middle of the night again ("WHAT the FUCK MERlin I'm CHANGEing!") He tells Arthur to go get his best sword, because they're gonna turn it into a dragon magic sword. He says they gotta get it burnished in dragon fire, and then it'll be able to kill magical creatures. ("No, no, it's fine to have one. I did this last time, too, I just didn't _tell_ you back then." "Why did I never question why I could kill magical creatures with a normal sword?" "Because you know fuck all about magic and think you're the best fighter to ever exist!" "Yeah fair." And then Arthur punches him anyway.) Merlin explains that when it comes to these things, it's kiiiind of like rock, paper scissors: magic beats mortal steel, _dragon_ magic beats magic, dragon lord powers beat dragon magic, and _some_ body's genocidal fully mortal father with fully mortal steal beat all the dragonlords. Rock, paper, scissors. 

-So they're walking to see the dragon, right? Except then Morgana pops out in one of the halls and says she's coming. Merlin's like, "You are not," and she is like, "Funny how so many people think they're the boss of me when in actuality no one ever has been nor ever will be the boss of me." Fine! Guess Morgana's coming. Except then Gwen pops out like, "Nuh uh no way you are taking My Lady to do sketch magic stuff," in the perfect model of the anxious person who can suddenly Do The Thing if it's For Her Friends because I love that girl and same. So now all four of them are going to see Kilgahrrah. Except THEN they come across that symbol Arthur saw earlier, and he brings it up. Merlin's like, "That's. No, that's not. Mine. Looks familiar though..." and his heart race increases.

-The closer they get to the dragon, the more symbols they see. Now they're like racing down the cavern and Merlin is like, "Oh no. Oh no. Oh no no no no bad bad not good no" 

-Enter the cavern. Every inch of the place. Top to bottom. Covered in the Mark of Nimeuh. And Kilgarrah? Is Gone. End of episode 2. 


	2. Basically episode 3

Basically episode 3

Obviously the opening to chapter 3 is Merlin rushing into Gaius' chambers like, "Gaius! Wake up - my father! Where's my father? Gaius, he's still alive in this timeline, so I have no dragonlord powers yet holy fuck the DRAGON IS GONE, GAIUS. He's gonna attack for sure." And now Arthur and Merlin have a very important quest of finding Balinor. 

On the way there, they talk about how things went last time and Merlin's relationship or lackthereof with his father. Merlin admits that if absolutely need be, he IS willing to kill Balinor to inherit his dragonlord powers, but that the thought of it makes him feel every bad emotion in existence so he'd really rather not have to. Arthur is stunned by this, because who would be willing to kill their father? This, my friends, is called irony. 

On the way there, they accidentally get into a bar fight. And you all know exactly who is there. It's Best Knight, it's My Personal Fave of The Round Table, it's the delivish drunk rogue who dresses like a tumblr bisexual thirst post. He doesn't even manage to finish his dramatic line before Merlin runs into his arms yelling, "Gwaine!" Gwaine instinctively returns the hug, locking his thumbs together around Merlin's waist and totally goes along with it like, "Oh hey, you. Man, it's been so long. When was the last time we saw each other?" to which Merlin goes, "About ten years from now, dude." And the brawlers are just like, "? We fighting or??" and Arthur is just like, "-giant sigh- Nice to meet you, Gwaine. This is Merlin. You two haven't met yet. I'll explain after we teach these unruly folks a lesson." Asskicking happens, which is very fun and cool, I promise. My own writing probably could not properly convey how fun and cool if I tried, but you gotta trust me on this. Just picture Arthur, with his traditional swordplay; Merlin, with glowing eyes and a ball of crackling electricity to throw; and Gwaine with two fists and broken glass bottle and ready to wreck an entire room and two dozen medieval mobsters. When it's over, Merlin tells Gwaine to pretty please come by Camelot later and not be a stranger. Gwaine's thinking, "I was just assaulted with affection by the most chaotic being I have ever met. I am affection starved and usually kicked out of places for my level of chaos. Of course I am going to stop by fucking Camelot holy fuck like you are my fucking soulmate, magic man." Says none of it out loud, but the vibe is there. 

They get back on the road, and things get more serious again. Merlin says Gwaine was on his list of people he doesn't know what to do about now that he has future power, and since they got time, he may as well run down some of those with Arthur now. The three names he's willing to speak of that are on that list at present moment are Lancelot, Percival, and Freya. He tells Arthur that when he became king, he allowed commoners to become knights. Gwaine was one of them, and Lancelot was another. But they first meet way before then. Merlin Classic helped Lance forge a noble identity so that he could be a knight while Arthur was still just a prince like he is now. (Arthur is kind of affronted to hear this, and Merlin is like, "Do you want to hear my concerns or not? Wrong, you do. No interrupting unless you have an actual question.") When the lie is discovered, Lance is banished. They meet up once or twice while he is, but it's important that he is, because that's when he meets Percival. Percival is also a knight of Arthur when he's king, and Merlin is concerned for that reason - what level of his meddling or not meddling will it take to make sure he still brings Percy home to them? Changing the future is one thing, but not changing specific parts of it? Now that's very hard. But the sadder one is Freya. He tells Arthur, with shame, about the girl in the cage who was so afraid of herself, who even the druids were afraid of, who everyone exiled, and how he felt such a strong kinship with her that he fell in love -or at the very, _very_ least what he thought was love- at first site and broke her out. How that had such tragic affects of her killing citizens in the night, and how she died by Arthur's hand while still a beast, and that Merlin couldn't tell Arthur any of it at the time, which felt very lonely. But that's all side nonsense! Guilt? Isolation? That's, ha, that's... so irrelevant. No, the point here is that Freya was actually really helpful to them dead! She became a spirit, the Lady of the Lake, in death and helped the two of them because she wished to replay Merlin Classic's kindness as the only person to ever be nice to her in like... her whole life p much. So what are they going to do about that? Should Merlin let her die when this time he doesn't have to? And if does, can they really accept that kindness when Merlin Prime was only nice with an ulterior motive and full knowledge of her fate? But if they don't - if they don't let things play out the exact way they did before, what will it be like without the Lady of the Lake on their side? And what would they do about her Beast status? What's the right thing to do? What's is the best thing logistically? And even if he can figure out which either of those are, how should he choose which to go with? It's a mess. But at least he's keeping Arthur in the loop this time! So maybe it'll be easier if he's not alone. 

So they find where Balinor should be.  
And  
He's not!

Guess what's there instead?  
You guessed it! A Mark of Nimeuh!   
And a note that says, basically, "Dear Emrys. Couldn't let you get your dragonlord powers, could I? ttyl"

-Screams of frustration 

-Going back to Camelot to try to figure out what they can do now. Merlin says he'll work on reinforcing the castle walls as much as he can but it's really only a matter of time before Kilgarrah attacks, and there will be a lot of casualties when it happens. 

-When they get back, there are three things waiting for Merlin: a letter from his mother that says there's trouble back home with a violent warlord who has stolen everyone's food, a death trap set by Uther and a bunch of angry knights who consider Arthur and Merlin's quest a kidnapping, and Gwaine. Hi, Gwaine! We love you


	3. and then more stuff?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't have things episode by episode penned out after that, just a long list of more things I want to happen that approximate a plot.

God I'm not entirely sure how to organize saying the rest of this. Bear with me. (I hope this whole thing doesn't get taken down. I know it's iffy as far as TOS goes.)

So things I was planning on happening:

  * Merlin and Arthur go to Merlin's village. But also Gwen and Morgana come alone for the same reasons as before ("I won't let you do whatever weird thing you're doing to my best friend" and "I want to come, and you can't stop me" respectively). Merlin is ecstatic to have Gwen come and barely tolerating Morgana coming. He asks Arthur for two favors. One that he buy a huge bunch of crop seeds. (Now that Merlin is famous as a crazy, extremely wanted sorcerer who has a weird kidnap-friendly relationship with the prince, no one will really do business with him at the marketplace anymore, and he doesn't think he could casually buy and industrial amount of crop seeds from a stall anyways.) He says he'll pay Arthur back in manufactured raw metals or translated books or "idk whatever.") Two is to not let anyone back home talk to him. He makes it super clear to Arthur. There are people back home in that villiage, who... look, he's keeping it together every day, and it's taking a Herculean effort, and if he sees certain people there, it _might_ be the thing that breaks him. And if he gets broken, it will be into a hundred million pieces, and he'll be useless for a very long time, so just keep people away, please. 
    * So they get there. Arthur keeps Will and Hunith from getting close to Merlin. Merlin tells Morgana and Gwen to evacuate everyone to a certain area. Warlords enter. Warlords get fucked up. Merlin tosses seeds in every field in town and does a sad little smile at Arthur and is like, "Watch. It'll be cool." He sits down like he's meditating and focuses his powers into the ground. Everything grows at super speed, effectively ending Ealdor's famine. 
      * Arthur is like, "Ok. Ok. Yeah, cool. Nice job, loser. We should do that back in Camelot maybe." But inside his head he's back to freaking out like, "RIGHT magic is SUPER POWERFUL we could use it for things besides fighting RIGHT why did I forget this and FUCK isn't Camelot at SUPER GIANT DISADVANTAGE against foreign powers if they're using magic and we're not? shit, fuck, if a country allows magic, we can't properly raze or siege them, can we? not that I want to be at war, but we're gonna be, aren't we? how am I going to ask my father about this? I need to ask him, because I'm going to be king one day, but he flies off the handle at the mention of magic. AND WHY IS THIS SHRIMPY, PUPPY DOG EYED DORK THE MOST POWERFUL SORCERER WHO WOULD MAKE THAT CHOICE"
    * Once everyone comes back from the evacuation, Arthur's like, "My job is over ;)" and tells Hunith and Will to go see him. There's a lot of crying and hugging. Merlin doesn't tell either of them what's really going on, but he says he really missed them, and he's super happy to see they are both alive and well. When he can talk. He mostly can't talk. He's mostly crying. uncontrollable sobbing, really. snot everywhere. it's heartwarming. 
      * Seeing all of this makes Gwen be less wary of Merlin. She still doesn't consider him a friend, but she does see the humanity in him. She decides that, while she still can't be certain Merlin isn't up to many treasonous and dangerous things, he's probably a good person.
    * Morgana is disappointed that she missed seeing the super amazing magic. She also alternates between, "Merlin! You and I are a team, we are in love, we are best friends, and you have no choice in this!" and "Stupid Merlin. Stupid Arthur. Stupid Gwe- annoyingly overprotective Gwen. How dare he treat me like a pariah when he is a literal pariah ungrateful little shit mad at me for stuff I've never even done but won't even tell me what it is I did"
    * Because Merlin fixed everything all quick with magic, Gwen and Arthur never have that scene where Gwen stands up to him in defense of Merlin's mother. Thus starting the aforementioned 
      * 


  * I was really excited for this one! Merlin is out doing best evading Uther's attempts to stop him from reinforcing the castle walls to ridiculous degrees when he hears, "Help us, Emrys." **BABY MORDRED, Y'ALL!** So Merlin's like, "Ignore it. Ignore it. Let him die. Ignore it. Ignore- Shit!" because he can't bring himself to not help a little kid calling out to him of course. So he grabs Mordred and _carries him like a football_ until they're out of the castle and in the woods. Then he sets him down and shouts, "Go home, Mordred!" "But-!" he hears in his head. "Go HOME, Mordred!" And then Mordred looks sad and starts walking away. 
    * "Wait." Giant sigh. "It's dangerous out there. I'll escort you." Now Mordred, feeling hurt, is quiet even in his head for the most part, but does lead the way to the druids.
    * Merlin says he's from the future, and he's going to tell Mordred about the future, because Mordred is a strong kid, and he can handle it. So he says in the future, Mordred was a knight and good friend to King Arthur, but he ended up betraying him, and that it was partially Merlin's fault. He says there was a girl Mordred liked - to which Mordred screws up his face like, "Ew, no," because BABY - and the whole bloody ordeal and the assassination attempt and the misunderstandings and how really neither side was wholly good in the end. He tells Mordred he wants to make a deal with him. He'll give him basically whatever he wants if he promises to always stay out of Camelot's affairs and never get involved with Arthur. For most of it, he is comedically bargaining with himself while Mordred stays entirely silent. 
    * Until! Until Mordred says through telepathy, "I want a citadel." _And this brazen little bitch won't budge._ It's a citadel for his settlement or nothing. Big, armored citadel where all the druids can stay or he's killing the king in a few years, absolutely, no question. He does not care how much time or energy it'll take Merlin. Deal's a deal. 
      * And Merlin has no option but to agree!!!
  * From that point on, it's normal for Merlin to leave Camelot every once in a while and try to build a citadel with Mordred. They have many failed attempts and half built fallen structures. Merlin asked if anyone in Mordred's camp knew how to build things, and Mordred just gave him a look to say, "Our diaspora'd group living in broken settlements of tents and usually on the run? Yeah lotta master builders here. What do you think, genius?" 
    * Merlin and Mordred build a relationship where Mordred looks at Merlin like, "This is my older brother. He's genius in magic but stupid everywhere else. He's ok. I love him." 
    * Merlin gives Mordred one of those little personal white boards like when you're little in math class and some dry erase markers so that he can talk to people who can't use telepathy. He also tells Mordred he outgrows the selective mutism, or at least he did in the other timeline. However, he doesn't know the how or the when there, so that info, while a tad reassuring, is not helpful. 
  * They both make loads and loads of wards and protection spells, similar to what Merlin is doing back at Camelot anyways. Merlin says they'll power them up together the first time, but after that, Mordred is on his own.
  * When the citadel is complete, tiny Mordred basically declares himself the Druid Prince and dedicates himself to uniting the settlements so they can all live together in the city walls and be safe from outsiders. He's confident but also nervous about the tasks ahead of him. It is hinted that in this timeline, Mordred ends up working really, REALLY hard to overcome his selective mutism so that he can speak publicly and unite everyone. Everyone who joins who has magic is obligated to use some of it to help power the wards. They all work together! 
  * Uther. Is not happy. That the druids are uniting and making a magic city with a united front that will be very difficult to attack. Very not happy. Not happy at all. Very not happy. Not happy at -
  * Arthur is also a little unhappy. Merlin assures him that it's part of a deal he made with the child who grows up to murder him. This does not help. 



  * One conversation that Arthur and Merlin definitely have at some point: 
    * Arthur asks Merlin, "So when I'm king, do you expect me to make magic legal for you?" 
    * Merlin's like, "Well, I'd like that, but I don't _expect_ it, no. But I have thought a lot about the whole thing. About why magic is so powerful it is outlawed and how I'd handle it if it were me. Do you want to hear?"
    * "You're going to tell me no matter what, so get on with it."
    * "I'd make a magic school! :D"
    * "No."
    * "Hear me out! Listen, I mean it when I say I've thought this through. A magic user who is your enemy is dangerous, right? And so is a magic user who is untrained. They don't have control over their powers, and it's scary. They could cause real damage totally by accident. So your dad's solution is to kill everyone with that amount of power immediately, right? And I get that. It's terrible, but I get it. Except what happens there is now _everyone_ with magic is your enemy mostly, right? And the people who have magic, don't know how to use it, and are super scared _only_ have the groups who are out for your blood to turn to. They're vulnerable and so they're easy to radicalize. Now you have more people against you. Eventually you end up dead. And remember, I know that part for a fact. But! If you make a school, well think about it, people with dangerous new powers can learn to subdue them in a controlled environment, and they'll be loyal to you instead of the groups against you. You should accept students of any status, and tuition should be paid in hours of service to the crown. Not everyone would have to serve military time, either. They could be healers or farm-excellerators or really anything. They could do a lot of good. And if any of them go rogue? You'll be the one who has records on them. What they learned, what they were best at and most interested in, how they could be dangerous. You accept magic in, you keep a leash on it." 
      * To readers who may be thinking, "That's some authoritarian bullshit, and Merlin would never want that," I hear you. I get it. But please remember that he's like 1600 years old, has seen the rise and fall of multiple empires, and is just trying to keep Arthur safe and stop geneocide if he can. 



  * MAIN PLOT STUFF will happen when Arthur gets kidnapped and Merlin gets a letter from Nimeuh like, "Come to the Isle of the Blessed if you want your boy back." (Note: I am obviously paraphrasing all of Nimeuh's lines and they would sound far less modern and casual.) 
    * I ripped off one of Morgouse's plots for Nimeuh. 
    * Merlin shows up at the Isle of the Blessed to see Nimeuh, Kilgarrah, and Balinor but no Arthur. They start arguing. Nimeuh is like, "I mean all four of us want Uther dead," and Merlin's like, "Um? Who said I want Uther dead?" and Nimeuh's like, "Um? Who said _you_ were the fourth one?" 
    * Arthur finds himself reliving some of Nimeuh's memories. It's. it's kinda a lot, guys. 
      * So, it'll open with Nimeuh holding onto the back of a blonde woman and burying her head into her back. They're in the air. They're riding a wyvern! And Nimeuh is scared and sick and not having fun. The woman in front of her is having loads of fun though. There's a lot of cute, "My lady, can we please slow down?" and "Don't be such a coward, Nim!" sort of banter going on.
      * The woman, to Arthur's shock, is a young Igraine. From then on, it's a few vignettes of a history Arthur has head about but never like this. 
      * For one thing, the wyvern is his mom's pet, co-owned by her and their friend, Lord Balinor Ambrosias, who Igraine calls "Ambro." 
        * Igraine is peak shonen protagonist. She's cute and adventurous and full of energy and loves the whole world and all her friends and gives everyone nicknames and no one can hate her.
      * Arthur is shocked to see that his father, when he was younger, was mostly cool with magic users. In fact, he'd shove Gaius, who was a timid little redhead nerd with a bowl cut, forward like, "Hey, Nimeuh! You girls think you're so great, but Gaius is a way better sorcerer than you," and Gaius would be like, "I-I-I'm really not. I'm only ok at healing spells and potions, Uther. P-please don't drag me into this." 
      * Young Uther's romance with young Igraine was sort of a James/Lily feel. (oh btw everyone is 18ish in these flashbacks) lots of rivalry and sort of falling in love with the bully 
        * Nimueh is in love with Igraine, but it's unclear if even she knows that herself. Nonetheless, they have a conversation like, "But why _him?_ Of all the people you could marry? There are loads of better guys. I could make a list. He's not even the crown prince, so I know you're not doing this to be queen." 
      * Then there's flashbacks to the war over succession that Uther has referenced in canon. Arthur sees Uther fighting with his sword side-by-side Nimeuh fighting with her magic. They see a lot of terrible things done with magic. Blights, plagues, mass destruction. Gaius, sweet sensitive thing he is, works tirelessly to heal soldiers and try to undo the curses, and says that once Uther is king, he ought to put regulations on magic so it can only be used for good. Nimeuh calls him an idiot because, "Yeah sure, the magic users who are willing to use biological warfare are gonna listen to laws, right Gaius." This is a line she majorly regrets saying where Uther could hear. 
      * Fast forward a while. Uther is king. Igraine is queen. Uther is having affairs. Igraine knows. She cries about it. Nimeuh says leave him, but Igraine says it's only natural he'd so, because she hasn't given him an heir. Nimeuh would rather kick Uther's cheating ass, but instead she agrees to use some risky magic to make Igraine fertile. 
      * Then what we all know happened happens. Nimeuh rushes off to get the cup of life. When she returns, she's too late to save Igraine, and is immediately arrested. 
      * A narration of Nimeuh's voice says something the to the degree of, "I was great at magic. Gaius was the most booksmart guy I knew. Uther was a master swordsman and a prince. Balinor was a dragonlord. Gorlois has a whole army behind him.We all knew that when it came to our friend group, Igraine was The Heart. Her only power was that everyone loved her to bits, she made everyone smile and was the glue that held us together. But I really underestimated how important that was. I had no idea just how much she kept Uther in line before she was gone." Then we see a quick fire of all the death Nimeuh saw, ending on a still memory of the decapitation of Igraine's pet wyvern who she loved so, so much. 
    * so enter Arthur to the arguing group on the Isle of Blessed. 
    * Arthur thinks... Arthur thinks they have to take down his father. 
    * Merlin does what he did back when this happened with Morgause: he says it was a lie. But Arthur looks at him, he looks at him and sees how panicked he is, and he says, "You told me you wouldn't lie to me this time." And this? This is the first real fight they have. It's the first time in all this Arthur feels he can't trust Merlin. 



That feels like a good place for a chapter break 


	4. list of stuff that was gonna happen further continued

  * So at some point, Morgana gets her powers, right? Fires in the night. Destruction. She's scared. And she asks Merlin, "Last time... the thing I did that makes you not trust me anymore... Did I hurt people?" And Merlin says, "Yes." 
    * "And you killed me, didn't you?" "I did."
    * "And that's why it would hurt too much to be friends." "..."
    * Morgana doesn't ask him to elaborate on what happened. She doesn't think she wants him to, and she's pretty certain he wouldn't. She _assumes_ , though, that her powers went crazy out of control, Merlin had to kill her to stop her unintentional destruction, and he felt dead with guilt about it.
  * They now regularly have lessons in controlling her magic. 
  * Her fear, resentment, and curiosity all grow over time. She asks him to tell her what happened. Merlin acquiesces and says to not blame him when she doesn't like what she hears. He tells her everything she did. He says there were parts where it was his fault. He says he doesn't know how she met Morgause and how they became close. He makes sure to emphasize all the things Morgana did to Gwen, because he hopes that will horrify her into not wanting to become who she became. For this reason, he's intentionally harsh. Intentionally blunt. Doesn't leave out details of the torture he endured. But he's fair enough to say he has regrets. If only he was the first to tell her she wasn't alone, maybe neither of them would have become the soulless people they both did. He says he killed her in the end. After a war that killed pretty much everyone. Morgana thanks him for telling her and stays pretty silent and depressed for a while. 
  * She gets over it and perks up eventually... or at least on the outside 



  * Lance shows up, but I never thought up much for him to do, especially because I wasn't sure if it was gonna be Gwen/Lance or Gwen/Morgana 
  * I thought up some comic relief stuff for Gwaine, though. Like, at one point someone commented on a chapter that Merlin should dye a green streak in Morgana's hair, and I loved that idea so much so that I made (ok, _planned on making_ since this whole thing is stuff I never did) doing each other's hair like a Thing. Like Arthur would be like, "Merlin. Would you please stop flirting with Gwaine while I am trying to lecture the knights?" and Merlin is like, "I'm not flirting. Braiding hair is a thing you do with friends." To which Morgana undoes her own braid in breckneck speed and orders, "Merlin. Do mine." and Merlin's like, "uh uh ok sure, but I DEF can't make one as professional looking as Gwen's," and looks apologetically at Gwen because she's the one who did the braid Morgana just undid. And Merlin's like, "Hm. How did Gwen weave this gold stuff in? Hey, you want me to put color in with illusion magic instead?" to which Morgana is like, "Yes of course I fucking want that! 😲❤️" And Gwaine's like, "Do green! Morgana looks good with green." And Gwen is like, "Well fuck me then, huh?" And Morgana's like, "Red is the country color. What about red and green?" to which Merlin goes, "UCK!" and Gwaine's like, "What?" And Merlin's like, "Nnnnn red and green together is so tackyyyy. You'll look like a Christmas card." And Gwen's like, "You are the tackiest person in existence. You do not get to say shit to my lady's fashion sense." (But in Gwen terms, ofc) And Morgana. Morgana shows her potential for evil by saying: "What's Christmas?" 
    * And Merlin has like a full brain shut down while he tries to recall if Camelot happened before Christianity, because he's sure it didn't. It didn't...right?
    * Arthur and Leon: "Guys! Battle plans! What the fuck!" Gwaine, Merlin, Gwen, and Morgana are kicked off the lawn. 



  * Merlin makes a little cottage by the Lake of Avalon for Freya to live in with a cute little garden (which includes but is not limited to strawberry bushes) and a cozy little corner to chain herself up at night before she changes. 
  * He also starts writing letters to his mom and to Will. They're stilted and most times he throws them away instead of sending him, but sometimes he sends them. And he's proud of himself every time. 



  * Merlin saves Arthur from assassins like 27 dozen times, so the knights trust him now. Well most of them. He's even friends with a few, kind of, which he is overjoyed about.
  * They have a lot of game nights and hunting nights. 
  * Arthur calls Merlin over one time or another like, "Hey we tied this one servant to a spinning wheel to show off our aim. Do your fireball midair split trick. The guys are gonna love it." To which Merlin flicks Arthur on the head, unties the servant, and tells Arthur to apologize. Arthur's like, "Or what? You're a shrimp, and if you use magic on me, the knights will never forgive you" and Merlin's like, " _Or else I'll tell you that a good king would protect his people, not find amusement in their suffering like some kind of criminally insane schoolyard bully, and I'm disappointed in you_." 
    * Arthur's too proud to apologize, but he lets the servant go, so we all know who won that one.
  * "One day I'll kill you, my lord, and then I will finally be at peace." / "If you kill me, _I'll_ be at peace, and _you'll_ be face down in a ditch alone for two thousand years." is a recurring line between them. Every time, the knights are like, "????" 
    * Once Leon trust Merlin, though, he hears that and is like, "Yeah, that's fair."
    * Gwaine and Lance were always like, "Yeah, that's fair."


  * Arthur thinks Gwaine and Merlin are dating. Gwaine thinks Arthur and Merlin are dating. At one point, Arthur invites Gwaine out for a drink and a _talk_ about it, and after some back-and-forth where they totally misunderstand each other, they both find out neither of them are dating Merlin. 



  * BACK TO MAIN PLOT 
    * So Arthur and Merlin are in a fight now. There should be some stuff in between this and the dragon attack, but I hadn't thought of it. Arthur ends up pretending to agree with Merlin so he can plot behind his back instead. 
    * Dragon attack! Kilgarrah attacks Camelot. Merlin does not have his dragon lord powers. Which means, well, this is the first fight where it's possible he'll lose. This is the first fight where it's possible he'll die, too. All his power gives him no assurance here. There are going to be casualties that he can't prevent. Arthur could be in real danger. He hasn't been this scared in so long. But he fights. They all do. And in the end, Kilgarrah retreats. 
      * Little does he know and oh how the tables have turned that only reason Kilgarrah retreats is that Arthur made a deal with Nimeuh out of Merlin's sight. He agreed to take down his father, become king, and legalize magic. 
      * He brings it up with Morgana. Morgana agrees that Uther needs to be taken down, but she says Arthur has to do it, because if she steps even a toe out of line, Merlin will assume she's going evil again and will kill her without hesitation. 
    * So, um. Pretty anti-climatic to just SAY it, but Arthur kills Uther.   

      * Merlin is actually kind of upset. In his mind, he was always _letting_ Uther live. Because Arther loved his father, needed his father. Deserved to have a father. Especially since he had no mother. No matter how many times Uther tried to kill him or how many people Uther succeeded in killing, Merlin was planning on letting him live til his eventual assassination, maybe even longer. He had considered letting Morgana go through with her mandrake root idea that time. He wasn't sure. But in his mind, it had all been on his shoulders, and it had all been just another sacrifice to make for Arthur's happiness and ability to run the country. He's too young right now, right? And here we see that, like, Merlin (Prime) has a bit of a messiah/god complex? I mean, how could you not, really. When you're that old and that powerful and have been crushed by that much responsibility and been that traumatized that many times. So you gotta be sympathetic but also it's kind of sucky of him. To think that just because everything is _on_ him that also everything is _up to_ him. 
      * But! he decides What's done is done. Uther is dead. The important thing now is to figure out where to go from here.
    * In order to allow Arthur become king as he's destined to be, they need to pin the murder on someone else. Morgana is the chosen scapegoat. 
    * And so it comes to be that Arthur, Gwen, Merlin, Morgana, and the rat BoyKing Mordred meet at a middle ground. 
      * Merlin takes out two rings with magic stones. He cuts Morgana's hand, and a stone absorbs the blood. Then he holds it close and puts his own magic into it. He holds out his hand and bids she do the same thing. 
      * They put the rings on each other's fingers, and Gwen and Arthur are looking at them like, "??? wedding?" and Merlin explains, "Mutually Assured Destruction."
      * Basically, both rings have alternate pieces of both of them. When placed in water, they can be used as two way communication. So they can spy on each other, but if they do, the other will know and be able to spy back. This way, Merlin can check that she and Mordred aren't going to start a war, and Morgana can check that Merlin isn't coming after her to kill her like he did in the past. Also, like, they can video chat in a bowl of water whenevs. 
    * And so Mordred and Morgana go away into the night, back to the druid citadel



  * Like way later. Long time later. Years later or something. Morgause shows up to meet with the unofficial "Druid King", Mordred, and his 2nd in command, The Lady Morgana, who is also her half sister. Morgause says they ought to be allies against Camelot and kill King Arthur. Mordred laughs himself into hysterics. They do not form an alliance. 




	5. what little I know of how it would end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and after this I'll say stuff on how Merlin/Arthur happened as a ship. oh and about Merlin never being able to be at Full Power. oh and like the parts that I forgot to add before, because I know I did forget some, because I'm remembering them now but I'm also like falling asleep so. but first I want to type out this before I fall asleep.

So obviously there's a lot I didn't plan. But I did have an ending in mind. Sort of. It, too, is very unfinished.

At some point, Arthur dies. Killed in battle, as if no matter how much time could be changed, destiny couldn't be. 

And Merlin couldn't save him. Not from the wound he got. So he took Arthur's sword, burnished by Aithusia, and asks Arthur to kill him. They've talked about it before, how if Merlin sees Arthur die, he'll feel responsible and will take him back to the lake and let it all happen all over again, and how he deeply, deeply doesn't want to go through that. So Arthur's gotta take that option away from him. It has to be Arthur. 

Arthur follows through. 

Merlin notices dying feels a lot like drowning. which, huh, isn't really a surprise. not being able to breath is a very dying sort of thing, is it not? and the weight makes sense. but the wet sensation is weird. it really does feel like he's -- underwater. 

Merlin's eyes open. _So he was trapped at the bottom of Avalon Lake this whole time!_

He swims up without thinking about it and breaches the water. In his arms is Arthur! He swims to shore and does CPR. Arthur wakes up, coughs out water, and glares at Merlin. "Which number?" he asks, as if that's a thing they just _do._

"Huh?"

"Which number Merlin are you?"

"Ummm. oh. Two, I guess. But also one? I think we've come to the point where Prime and Classic have caught up to each other."

And Arthur's like, "What are you talking about?"

As it turns out, while stuck in Avalon Lake, Arthur has relived his life well over 50 times now and tells his Merlins a number every morning to keep track. This Arthur is easily as insane as this Merlin. Once they both understand the situation, the first thing they do is argue about who had the more miserable past few centuries. "No matter what I did, every time I died, I'd just wake up at that day I broke a plate when I was 3 again! It didn't matter if things ended up great or tragic, I'd just have to watch everyone make the same mistakes all over again!" "Well at least you got to hang out with everyone! I've been so alone. You have no idea how insane that makes a person!" "You got to see the world change! I got to see my sister commit suicide in front of me like 13 times and know that next time I woke up, she'd be back like nothing happened. You have no idea how insane that makes a person!"

And then like nothing they switch into, "So what are we doing now?"

Merlin knows all about present day, because he got to live here. But Arthur spent so much time in the past that he ironically knows WAY more about the Olde Religion and magical history than Merlin does. So Arthur says, "Bet you didn't know there are four other dragon eggs out there 🎶." And we exit the story with them together again in 21st century, off to see if any of those eggs are still in the places Arthur knows of and, if so, if any of them are still alive and hatchable. The end.

There would then be an epilogue of little snippets of some of the many, many lives Arthur has lived and stuff he learned over time and all the different ways he tried to keep everyone safe and failed. Two faves of mine from my possibles list in my notes:

  *     * That time Arthur got tired of waiting to be like 17 or whatever for Merlin to show up and goes down to Gaius as like an 8-year-old like, "You have a nephew who lives in the neighboring country, right? Hunith's son, named Merlin? I want him to come over and be my playmate every summer. I know he has magic, so tell her he doesn't have to come until he has it under control enough to hide it. This is an order." And Gaius is like, "!!!!!! h a v e y o u b e e n h a v i n g w e i r d d r e a m s l i k e M o r g a n a!!!! ?" to which Arthur just snarks a bitter, "Nope, but wouldn't that be funny if it were a family trait?" (P.S. Obviously he's lauded as a precocious little prodigy in this and several other timelines, because he already knows everything his tutors teach him.)
    * One time Arthur tried to make sure Morgana didn't go bad by being the most doting brother he could possibly be, even though he was the younger one. He was super supportive all the time, even and especially when it came to her having magic. And while this killed whatever part of her was wicked, it only set fire to that part of her that was always so radically intolerant of tyranny. So this time she and her father have a full civil war going. Merlin was as obsessive as ever about Arthur's safety and had done, ahem, _something_ to increase his power. He has horns now and scales in some places. Arthur dare not ask where Kilgarrah is. Merlin is explaining to Arthur why he's locking him in tower and that he'll be back just as soon as he subdues BOTH armies so Arthur can be king. Once he's gone, Arthur just lets out a long suffering sigh and considers some stupid things. He considers if this is a time he should put on the list of Times Merlin Went Evil and decides "not yet but we're getting there." He considers just going along with it and staying in the tower and decides against it. What kind of king, friend, brother, or son would he be to not get involved in the action? So he jumps out the tower.




End file.
